Mojo Hand FX Colossus

The Mojo Hand FX Colossus is a fuzz pedal built on the Russian/Civil War era Sovtek Big Muff circuit, the version Mojo Hand FX describes as "the be-all-end-all Russian/Civil War Muff-style fuzz"¹. Where an original Sovtek gave you three controls and a famously scooped midrange, the Colossus adds a full range Mids knob and a 3-way EQ voicing toggle, both aimed at helping the pedal cut through a band mix live¹. It sells for $159.00 on the maker's product page as of October 2026¹.

Premier Guitar reviewed it in September 2023 and framed its lineage plainly: the pedal is based on the Sovtek Big Muffs of the early '90s, a version of the circuit that "until recently tended to be regarded as the homely stepsister of the Big Muff family"². Mojo Hand FX describes what it covers tonally in one line: "Rich harmonic drenched chords, sweet singing leads, sludgey stoner goodness, filthy bluesy mcnasties, pumpkin-flavored raunch"¹.

A Russian Civil War Muff-style fuzz

The Colossus takes its circuit from the Sovtek Big Muffs made in Russia during the Civil War era of the circuit's history. Kit Rae's Big Muff history notes that the original version of the Sovtek Russian Big Muff was actually branded as the "Red Army Overdrive" before the name changed to Big Muff⁴. That Russian lineage is the whole point of the pedal: Mojo Hand FX positions it against its own Iron Bell, a "Gilmour" voiced fuzz the maker describes as "very open and rich, with an almost 3D-like harmonic quality," while the Colossus stays closer to the Russian original⁵.

The independent layout site Guitar FX Layouts, which published a vero layout for builders in November 2015, characterizes the circuit as "a modded russian civil war muff with an added mids pot, and switch to alter the frequencies that enter the circuit"⁶. In other words, the foundation is the Sovtek circuit, and the two additions are the Mids control and the voicing switch.

Builders on that same page reported strong results. One, posting as Roel, built it with 2N5089 transistors and wrote that it beat every original Muff he owned: "I've got some original muffs around....and this one knockes them ALL out of the park"⁶. Another, D. Garlans, swapped the clipping diodes for red and green LEDs and reported "an enormous volume difference" with "a killer, raw tone"⁶.

The controls and the 3-way voicing switch

The control set is where the Colossus parts ways with a Sovtek. Premier Guitar's reviewer counted four knobs, "Tone, Gain, Volume, and a fourth labeled Mid, and each has a considerable impact on the tone," where an old Sovtek Muff offered Volume, Sustain and Tone².

The toggle positions, as the maker lists them:

• Up: most bass¹
• Center: standard¹
• Down: more bass¹

Premier Guitar's reviewer heard the switch a little differently in practice: "Flipped straight up, there's a hint of bass cut. The middle position emphasizes the mids and seems to give the Mid control itself a little more focus, and the down position gives a kick to the low-mids"². On the Mid control, the same reviewer found that "rolling up some of the Mids on the Colossus finds the pedal cutting like a firebrand through the mix"².

For players who want to go deeper, Coda Effects published the Colossus tone stack values in a technical piece on Big Muff midrange: R8: 10k, C8: 0.047uF, C9: 0.022uF, C9bis: 0.056uF, and R5-1: 47k, compared with the Iron Bell's R8: 18k, C8: 0.01uF, C9: 0.0068uF, C9bis: 0.033uF and R5-1: 33k⁷.

Power and build

The Colossus runs on a standard center negative 9V DC supply or a 9V battery, with neither included, and draws about 12mA according to the maker's product page¹. The Limited Edition Colors page lists the current draw as about 3mA, so the maker's own pages disagree on that figure; either way it is light enough for any isolated supply or daisy chain³.

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the construction roadworthy: "The guts aren't too cluttered, there's ample space for the 9V battery (the pedal also has a 9V barrel input), and the jacks are well shielded"². The enclosure is die cast aluminum, powder coated and printed at the Mojo Hand FX facility¹.

How it compares with a Sovtek Big Muff

The core difference is control. A Sovtek Civil War Muff gives you Volume, Sustain and Tone and a midrange scoop you cannot dial out; the Colossus adds the Mid knob and the voicing toggle on top of the same basic circuit⁶². Premier Guitar's verdict in September 2023 was favorable on value: "At $149, the Colossus is a great find and a pretty solid deal for anyone on the hunt for Sovtek Muff tone in a sturdier package"². The maker's list price as of October 2026 is $159.00¹.

Within the Mojo Hand FX range, the Colossus sits alongside the Iron Bell, which is voiced for the Gilmour camp rather than the Russian one⁵, and the 1979, an op-amp based take on late-'70s high gain Big Muffs. Note that there is also a separate Dr. No COLOSSUS, an unrelated limited edition pedal from Dr. No Effects that is handmade, numbered and hand-signed by Ruben Block⁸.

Limited edition colors

Mojo Hand FX also sells the Colossus Limited Edition Colors, the same circuit offered in Lavender, Mint, and Seafoam finishes³. It carries the same $159.00 price³, the same true bypass switching³, the same 3-way tone toggle with up as most bass, center as standard and down as more bass³, and the same die cast aluminum enclosure powder coated and printed in house³.

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